Nickyc707

Before tonight it was 36 years since Northern Ireland had had a gold medalist - two members of the GB men's hockey team - and 52 years since they'd had an individual gold medalist- Mary Peters (Athletics-pentathlon). Now they have two on the same night with Wiffen and Jack McMillan who swam a leg in the 4x200 m relay qualification this morning.

I can't believe how close GB came to a medal with such a weakened team. Great effort ladies.

Andy Murray still raging against the dying of the light as he and Evans come from a set down and save five consecutive match points against Daniel and Nishikori.

And yet somehow Evans, Draper and Murray/Evans won even though tennis shouldn't be played on dirt. 😀

So sorry for Max Litchfield after finishing 4th in this event for the third consecutive Games.

The Romans had a talent for it. They did the same to Corinth. One of the best programmes I've seen of that kind was about the fall of the Hittite Empire which covered large parts of Turkey, Lebanon and Syria. The discovery of a library in the abandoned capital, the work done to decipher the language and the consequent revelations about the rise, fall and collapse of their Empire were fascinating. I'm still waiting for someone to decipher Etruscan though.

You mean when they showed the judges scoring the punches and you could see the scores throughout each round? I too much preferred that system. It was far easier to identify when a judge was out of his/her depth or simply being dishonest.

I thought it was Carthage the Romans left flat not Tyre.

I cannot believe the judges gave the win to Rygielska. I don't usually comment on individual fights because it's all so subjective but that was a travesty. Eccles was on the front foot throughout the fight and in the last round the Pole kept trying to cling onto her opponent and dropped her head so often that she was penalised. The second round was close but I'm convinced Eccles won the other two. A real shocker and no doubt it won't be the last.

Lol. Who wants to see the end of an exciting TT when we can take a leisurely view of French architecture! Frustrating wasn't it and it won't be the last time over the next fortnight with the road race, triathlon and marathons still to come.

Pommel horse like the balance beam is just too nerve wracking if you've got a stake in the outcome. On both apparatus it always appears they're on the edge of disaster.

Well done Evenepoel. Sadly, a puncture cost Tarling the silver medal.

The return of Joe Fraser to the team after his injury problems is a big plus given his all round abilities. I think it just gives them an edge over the Americans but as always it'll come down to who makes the fewest mistakes in what I guess will be the battle for bronze. You used to be able to count on the US having problems on the pommel horse but they've upped their game on this piece of apparatus now.

They'd have won anyway but the judges do tend to overlook some errors in their synch. There were a couple of dives where they were treated a little generously but still there's no doubt the best pair won. Credit too to the US who probably outperformed expectations. I was expecting Oz and GB to battle it out for the two minor medals and in the end it was just a contest for the bronze.

Which country does he compete for? 😀

It worked for Abebe Bikila when he won the marathon in Rome in 1960.

Extremely substandard performances in the men's triple jump (😀) but apart from that an excellent meeting in front of a capacity crowd of 60k.

Gibraltar is an odd choice given that its status is covered by the Treaty of Utrecht (1714), and there hasn't been a military conflict since the 18th Century which rather predates the modern OG. All British overseas territories have the right to self-determination if they want it. Gibraltar is the exception as it must be offered to Spain rather than granted independence under the terms of the Treaty. Nevertheless, it is up to the Gibraltarians whose descent is from a mixture of Andalusian Spanish (the largest group), Genoese Italian, Maltese, North African Jews, South Asians and British where their future lies.

Like the BBC commentators Tim Worwood and Ed Leigh on both this and snowboarding, freestyle skiing, etc. who are always so "stoked."

You mean you never smoked Yuf? Where were you?

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is whether Russia and Belarusian athletes should be treated in the same way given the doping issue related specifically to one and not the other and that they have had different roles in the conflict with Ukraine. It should also be noted that Russia is also illegally occupying the territory of Georgia and Moldova in addition to Ukraine. There's no doubt that the Belarusian leader Lukashenko is whole heartedly behind Russia's actions but there is evidence that opposition from both the Belarusian people and military has restricted their more direct involvement in Ukraine. With this mind I would favour a full ban on Russia while allowing Belarusian athletes to compete under thr neutral flag.

Not one of the qualifying sports here but golfers Georgia Hall and Charley Hull have confirmed their places on the team after being the only two Brits to make the halfway cut at the final qualifying tournament

already has two women's quotas from the European Games and last year's WC so presumably there will be some reallocation going on through the rankings?

Name their 42 strong squad for Paris. https://www.teamgb.com/article/team-gb-rowing-squad-selected-for-paris-2024/4pqhpftIJ45rjxoxC6GG54

There are more questions over the citizenship of competitors at St Louis than at any other OG because of the level of immigration from European countries to the US at that time. Indeed changes are still being made in the records from time to time. My source indicated that eleven fencers took part in St Louis with eight from the home nation, two from Cuba and one German. In any event it's an embarrassment whether 120 or 128 years.